Eligible Partner Countries

Partner countries belonging o Regions 1 to 4 and 6 to 11 included (see section “Eligible Countries” in part A of the programme Guide).

Eligible participating organisations

A participating organisation can be:

• any public or private organisation offering higher education degrees or other rec-ognised tertiary education level qualifications (defined as higher education in-stitution and recognised as such by the competent authority)

or

• any public or private organisation active in the labour market or in the fields of education ,training and youth. For example, such organisation can be:

– a public, private small medium or large enterprise (including social enterprises);

– a public body at local, regional or national level (including ministries);

– a social partner or other representative of working life, including chambers of commerce, craft/professional associations and trade unions;

– a research institute;

– a foundation;

– a school/institute (on any level, from pre-school to upper secondary education, including vocational education and adult education);

– a non-profit organisation, association, NGO (including national or international associations or networks of higher education institutions, students or teachers associations, etc.);

– a cultural organisation, library, museum;

– a body providing career guidance, professional counselling and information services.

Each participating organisation must be established in a Programme Country or in an eligible Partner Country.

Higher education institutions (HEIs) located in a Programme Country must hold a valid Erasmus Charter for Higher Education (ECHE). An ECHE is not required for participating HEIs in eligible Partner Countries; However for the Special Mobility Strand, HEIs established in the eligible Partner Countries will have to have established inter-institutional agreements with all partner HEIs, endorsing the principles of the ECHE.

Faculties/schools/colleges/departments/centres or any other components, which are parts of higher education institutions but established as autonomous legal entities, are considered ineligible (even if they have a PIC –Participant Identification Code) unless they can provide a specific project related statement signed by the Rector/President of the higher education institution authorising them to commit the whole institution.

Associations or organisations of higher education institutions dedicated to the promotion, improvement and reform of higher education as well as to co-operation within Europe and between Europe and other parts of the world are eligible. If such associations, organisations or networks also cover other education sectors and training, the main focus of their activities must be on higher education. An association, organisation or network of higher education institutions will count as one legal entity/partner institution and will act on behalf of its members, meaning that it will be treated as one entity from the country where the headquarter is based. Only those members which are established in the Programme or eligible Partner Countries can benefit from the grant.

International governmental organisations may participate as partners in Capacity Building projects on a self-financing basis.

Who can apply:

The following types of participating organisations can apply for a grant:

• a higher education institution;
• an association or organisation of higher education institutions;
• only for Structural Projects: a legally recognized national or international rector, teacher or student organization.

Number and profile of participating organizations

Capacity Building projects must respect the following criteria:

For projects addressing one Partner Country only (national projects):

One eligible Partner Country and at least two Programme Countries must be involved in the project.

These projects must include, as full partners, a minimum number of HEIs, as follows:

• minimum one HEI from at least two of the Programme Countries taking part in the project;
• minimum three HEIs from the Partner Country taking part in the project.
• projects must include at least as many Partner Country HEIs as there are Programme Country HEIs.

Exception: in Partner Countries where the number of higher education institutions is lower than 5 in the whole country or in cases where one single institution represents more than 50% of the overall student population of the country, applications counting only one HEI for those countries will be accepted.

For projects addressing two or more Partner Countries (multi-country projects):

At least two eligible Partner Countries and at least two Programme Countries must be involved in the project. Partner Countries can be from the same region or from different regions covered by the Action.

These projects must include, as full partners, a minimum number of HEIs, as follows:

• minimum one HEI from at least two of the Programme Countries taking part in the project;
• minimum two HEIs from each Partner Country taking part in the project;
• projects must include at least as many Partner Country HEIs as there are Programme Country HEIs.

Exception: in Partner Countries where the number of higher education institutions is lower than 5 in the whole country or in cases where one single institution represents more than 50% of the overall student population of the country, applications counting only one HEI for those countries will be accepted on the condition that the projects includes at least as many Partner Country HEIs as there are Programme Country HEIs.

Additional specific criteria applying to:

• Structural Projects: projects must also involve, as full partners, the Ministries responsible for higher education in each of the eligible Partner Countries targeted by the project.
• Projects involving partners from Region 4 (Russian Federation) must involve at least another Partner Country.
• Projects involving partners from Region 8 (Latin America), must involve at least two Partner Countries from that region in the project.